Affecting Probability Two: Mending Broken Fences
by mat528
Summary: With Trillion's help, Buffy and Spike find their way back to each other, and in the process gain a new lease on life. Look inside for a little more info on Trillion. A Spuffy story.
1. Chapter 1

AFFECTING PROBABILITY TWO: MENDING BROKEN FENCES

**Author's note: This is a story concerning a fairy that is in my other two stories "Affecting Probability" and "A Slightly Different Cinderella Story". It is my first Spuffy fan fiction, so no flames, please.**

**As usual, the disclaimers that I don't own anything and am not making a profit off of this apply.**

**Time of story in relation to "Angel" and "BTVS": After NFA and Chosen, in the year 2008.**

CHAPTER ONE

Fairy Man Trillionanaoscapie folded back the dimensional portal, sighing as he found himself in the year 2008. Although he loved taking temporal trips, he sometimes wondered why humans and other creatures managed to mess things up more often than not when it came to affairs of the heart.

Maybe it had to do with what Max, his mentor had told him: they couldn't see auras like the faerie folk could, so they often mistook sexual appetites for love (not that he didn't sometimes feel sexual desires where his soulmate, Cinderella, was concerned). Now, things had become progressively worse for the two he had to aid.

He remembered the first time they had been mated, although he couldn't take the credit for that. The fairy Tillenda had set the wrong wheels in motion for matchmaking his clients, thereby making a royal mess of things. She had fixed up the human female, Elizabeth Anne Summers, otherwise known as "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer" to her friends and some devoted fans on the Internet, with Angel instead of the other vampire, Spike, at the proper time, which caused one disaster. Then, to cover up her mess, she caused Buffy and Spike to have a relationship too soon.

Instead of them getting to know each other after they had both emotionally matured and William The Bloody had managed by different means to secure a soul in this time period, Tillenda's spell had them meeting when she was still a teenager and thus not ready for the consequences of having a serious relationship. Tillenda also bungled things so that Spike, who was still very much involved with Drusilla at the time, met Buffy when he was totally anti-Slayer and nearly ended her life. Although they had become an item years later, her inability to recognize his true feelings for her resulted in his death and her debaucle with the Immortal. Now, although they were each alive, they were also alone in their corners of the world and miserable while pretending all was right with the world, which would lead to yet another depressing chapter in their already-too-unhappy lives.

At least, the Fairy Queen had seen to it that Tillenda got a new career as a Dew Drop Fairy so that she didn't perform any more matchmaking spells. Tillenda didn't have anything to worry about other than making sure the roses and other flowers had fresh dew drops on them in their kingdom of Aramathea every morning. For her part, the young fairy was actually happier; she had admitted that she sucked at matchmaking, something that Trillion usually excelled at. Of course, now, he had to make sure that the forces were aligned properly for Buffy and Spike to meet again and for them to be happy (or at least as happy as two could be given what they did). He had checked the tomes in HWHAK's ever burgeoning library at least four times concerning their futures, and he had made sure that everyone else who could either impede or totally destroy any smidgeon of happiness between the Premier Slayer and the second Vampire With a Soul was either in a relationship or blocked from interfering.

He smiled as he thought about the evil forces at the now defunct law firm of Wolfram and Hart in Los Angeles. Although they had tried to keep Spike with Angel, or keep Spike fighting evil so much that he didn't have a change to spare a wayward glance at a woman much less the woman he was meant to be with, the Powers that Be and Fate had stepped in to prevent that from becoming a permanent occurrence. Next, the Band of the Loveless Fae, a group dedicated to causing disasters in affairs of the heart, had fixed him up with Illyria. Although that had lasted for awhile, they had finally called their doomed relationship quits. Buffy had managed to reach Angel, who had been involved with Nina at the time, but the warm feelings amongst them had long since cooled into a pleasant acquaintanceship if not a friendship.

So it was that Buffy, Spike, Angel and the Scoobies were all in different parts of the globe, still fighting the good fight and saving the world, but not really connecting with any one, much less each other. Trillion had managed thus far to fix things so that Angel was helping Torchwood in London on a permanent basis; Nina was shacked up with Oz and his rock band in Oceanville; Xander and Andrew were helping slayers in Mexico with, of all things, Illriya's aid; Willow and Kennedy were in England assisting Giles with forming a newer, more improved Watcher's Council; Dawn had begun her first year of school in Illinois and was majoring in Psychology. As for Gunn, the one thing Trillion had not been able to control was his demise at the hand of the Demons of Chiliara, a particularly nasty Order, which was out to get the Souled Vampires at all costs. Trillion was sad that Charles Gunn had died protecting Angel and Spike, but he realized more than most that all things worked out for a good reason, and that terrible things which happened could lead to other better occurrences if one worked hard enough.

So it was that he was here, waiting for the best moment to strike. That moment came about two weeks after the faerie man had arrived in 2008 in Italy. Trillion concentrated and, whipping out his wand, stirred it to charge up his portable magic mirror. When he spotted the Premiere Vampire Slayer in his sights, he set to work.

She sat, reading yet not reading the Italian newspaper and sipping an espresso. Physically, she was still the Golden Goddess Spike had always thought she was. Her golden tanned legs were crossed, the pink leather skirt covering them barely reaching her knees. The slightly darker pink tank top she wore hugged her petite chest to perfection. Her longer blonde hair skimmed her face which, through years of painful experiences, was just starting to harden with wrinkles around the eyes not borne from aging (she _was_ only twenty-eight, after all,) but from experiencing too much suffering. These days, Buffy rarely smiled, if ever. Like the time when she had first returned from her second death, she just went through the motions. She observed life, and when each night fell, staked vampires without incident in the Italian city she had called home, but she didn't speak to anyone, nor did she often call her friends abroad. Her lovely mouth curled into a frown or an outright grimace these days more often than not or worse yet, her mouth stayed where it was, neither smiling, nor frowning.

"Escuse, senora," an Italian waiter was saying.

Buffy didn't lower the newspaper, but continued sipping her bitter coffee. "Yes?" she said in an unaffected voice.

"You have a call inside," the waiter told her. He pointed to a small wall phone in the back of the restaurant.

Buffy finally felt a faint stirring of curiosity. Who would call her, and why didn't they just simply use her cell? It wasn't as though she didn't have an international calling plan. She threw some Euros on the table and walked to the back, paying scarce attention to the Italian men who were eyeing her derriere appreciatively.

"Si?" she said into the phone, her American accent still very pronounced.

"Are you Buffy Summers, the Premiere Vampire Slayer?" an American, New England sounding voice asked over the phone.

"If I am?" Buffy asked, her tone nonchalant.

"I need your unique services," the voice told her. "I would like to meet with you at Donee de La Vecca in the Villa de Piaza tonight."

"And you can't tell me what this is about because…?" she asked.

"Just meet me," the voice said, hanging up. Buffy sighed, walking out of the restaurant toward her hotel.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Later on that night, Buffy stood in the posh room that was Donne de La Vecca, waiting for whoever had placed the call to show. She took scant notice of the décor of the room, nor the patrons filing in and out, but just waited to see if anyone unusual would come. After almost an hour of seeing couples greet and walk off with each other, and people just come and go but not come near her or even regard her, Buffy decided to head back to her lonely room at her apartment.

She had not taken two steps out of the restaurant when a voice called, "Senora Buffy?"

"Who wants to know?" Buffy asked unaffectedly, not angered at having to wait not really feeling anything at all. Before she could react, a hand snaked out and pulled her into a dark alley. Her Slayer powers at the ready, Buffy aimlessly flipped the being over onto its back.

The being pulled her down, flipping her over onto her back. With lightning speed, Buffy rebounded, pulling a stake out of her pocket. She stabbed the being and didn't notice as it fell silent to the ground. She started to walk back to her room at the villa she lived in when she heard a clapping noise. The noise was followed by a medium sized nondescript Italian man who emerged from the shadows.

"Motto bene, senora," the man praised in the New England accent she'd heard over the phone. Buffy saw that he wore an ordinary top with jeans, and he was smiling a very broad grin. His face could have belonged to any age group; so ordinary looking was it.

"All right, who are you, not that I actually care," Buffy said, putting the stake back into her pocket.

"My name is Guiseppe Frantz," the man said. Buffy's head inclined toward the being on the ground who, at closer glance, had bronze bumps on top of blue skin. Two huge horns shot out of a very long face.

"Who's your friend?" she asked.

"Not sure," Giuseppe told her. Buffy nodded, starting to walk away. Guiseppe followed.

"Don't you want to know why I asked you to come?" he asked. Buffy continued walking.

"Not really," she replied, crossing the street. Guiseppe matched her fast pace.

"Well, I'm gonna tell you anyway," he said. "Hellmouth: Eastern U.S. That demon you killed was only a sample of what that Hellmouth contains."

"_So_ not interested," Buffy responded. Then, after a beat, she asked, "How did he get here, anyway?"

The part Italian, part American man shrugged, saying, "As I said: your help is needed back in the States."

"There are several _other _slayers in the U.S.," Buffy told him. "Why not get one of them?"

"Because this is a job for an experienced Vampire Slayer…_the _number one Vampire Slayer," Guiseppe responded. "You're wanted in Maine." Buffy found herself in her own room in her apartment even though she'd still had to walk several more blocks. Giuseppe smiled.

"Teleportation. A talent of mine," he told her. Buffy didn't respond to what he had just said, but she just crossed her arms.

"Maine, huh?" she asked a little skeptically. "So what's in Maine?"

"The Hellmouth to end all Hellmouths," Giuseppe answered her.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

William Worthington walked through the cemetery in the small town of Hamsted, Maine. He had never thought in his wildest dreams that he would end up in what should have been one of the most picturesque yet boring States in America, but he had been here a year and a half, and had yet to see that the supernatural activity had slowed down. He took a long drag on his cigarette, his thoughts with the woman who would be waiting for him in his bed.

She was a young, blonde fan of his latest creative venture. They had been together for a month, which was a record in his book. It was also quite an accomplishment on his part that he hadn't strangled her after they'd shagged. He thought for the umpteenth time that if he heard Tina giggle once more in that loud way of hers, or if she called him "baby doll" once more, he would take his pack of cigarettes and shove them down her throat. He considered breaking up with her many times, especially since he found their shagging was getting more and more pedantic, but it beat being in an empty room every night. William also found that she served another purpose, to which she didn't mind aiding him: each time he was inside her, he imagined paying homage to another, her golden thighs a sweet caress; her succulent lips just begging for his tongue. Whenever he cried out "Buffy!" as they came together, Tina just rode him harder.

He had given up believing in fairy tales, and happily ever afters. Although he had once been a poet, the only poetry in his heart these days was late at night, when the twilight hour came calling, and he finally found sleep before the first moments of the dawn. There, in his dreams, _she_ would appear, and she would stroke him tenderly, whispering words of love, telling him that she would be with him until the end of time.

The first time he'd met her, he had wanted to kill her to make his ex-girlfriend happy. The second time, he had laid everything on the line to tell her how he really felt, only for her to throw it back at him time after time. Although he tried to help her and her friends because he knew that would make her happy, she had always found ways to damn him, making it _his _fault somehow. The last time they'd said "goodbye" to each other, at least in spirit if not in words, he had let the amulet consume him, convinced that that was the best option since she neither wanted nor received his love. When he came back into existence, he hadn't let her know that he was alive, and when he had seen her dancing with another in Italy, he banked down the hurt he felt, telling himself that he would find another; telling himself that this was all for the best.

He climbed the stairs to his flat and went into the bathroom. The first thing he noticed was that Tina hadn't thrown her arms around him and given him a bear hug like she usually did. The second thing he noticed was that he sensed her behind him even as he didn't see her reflection in the mirror. Tina's fangs were bared, her face was a deathmask as she prepared to strike.

"Hunter…" she snarled. She leaped at him, throwing him outside the bathroom into the living room.

"Nice to see you," William drawled. "Gotta say, pet, this is a definite improvement over the way you looked when I left you earlier." Tina screamed and lunged for him yet again. William rolled his eyes, thinking _spare me the hell from newbies._ He casually tossed the cigarette at her so it caught her jacket. By the time she'd managed to fling off the burning cig and crush it beneath her heeled shoe, she became aware of another burning sensation: her back. The newly created vamp evaporated into dust as William flicked his lighter closed.

"Wasn't worth the effort…" he muttered, going into the bathroom. As he tossed water on his angular face, he caught sight of his reflection in the mirror and wondered if any more of his fans would show up drastically changed tonight.


	2. Chapter 2

AFFFECTING PROBABILITY: MENDING BROKEN FENCES

CHAPTER TWO

XXXXXXXXXX

Buffy sat in the tavern in Hamsted the next night, wondering for the fifth time why she had let Guiseppe talk her into coming.

"Not like stuff goes on in Maine…" she told no one in particular. Still, the Italian American had said there was a Hellmouth here, so she decided that she would do some good as long as she stayed there, then go back to Italy.

Giuseppe had, at least, rolled out the proverbial red carpet for her, taking care of her plane ticket to the U.S., a room in a cozy little inn, a decent bank account, and a promise to hook up with her shortly after she'd arrived.

She dove into her potato chips as the waitress brought another beer. Buffy had chosen a table near the back, not wanting to be the center of attention in a dive like this one, a place with stale smoke and rickety tables. The Slayer's eyes looked ahead to the stage, where there was a lone microphone and an uncomfortable chair like those by the bar.

"So, when's the show?" Buffy asked as the waitress refilled her glass.

"In about five minutes," the waitress told her. "I never miss him when he's on stage. He's terrific, and he's been packing them in left and right every night since he arrived."

Buffy snacked on another chip as she said, uninterested, "Oh?"

"Yeah, and he's quite the stud, too," the waitress said, winking at her.

The Vampire Slayer tossed the beer back in her throat, neither enjoying nor hating the taste of her beer. She recalled a time when she had regressed to a caveman the last time she had drunk beer. That had resulted in her not drinking beer or any other alcoholic beverage for a long time. But now, things were different. Now, she could use the beer as a weapon to numb the unspoken pain beneath her calm, apathetic surface; to forget the way she and her friends had parted; to not think about Spike, and how just thinking briefly about him was enough to make her heart do handstands.

_Well, _she thought, _might as well catch some of the show. _

People started applauding as strong hands gripped the microphone on stage. The hands were followed by a tall, light brown haired man with angular cheekbones and the sexiest blue eyes she had looked into on many an occasion. He wasn't sporting all black this time, but a navy long sleeved shirt, and dark jeans. The announcer, a portly man with a ruffled shirt and a black suit with dandruff flakes on it, proclaimed that the singer was William Worthington. The crowd went wild as the guitarist played the first strings of his first number.

He started to sing. Buffy froze when she heard the familiar tune. It was the song he'd sung to her when they were both enthralled by the demon, Sweet; the song about letting Spike rest in peace. She wanted to leave before he spotted her, but she was routed to the spot, listening to his voice.

When he sang about being a willing slave, Buffy thought back, _so am I. _She shook off her thoughts just then, wondering why he still dominated her mind. He finished the song to thunderous applause. People threw tips onstage, and Buffy thought that was the perfect moment to leave. She signaled for the waitress and paid the woman, then went out the side door.

On stage, after the crowds had dissipated, William frowned as he caught a scent he'd not smelled in at least four years. Buffy…unmistakably Buffy, a combination of sweat, sometimes blood, Vanilla and something new…a musky, spicy scent. He peered into the audience, wondering where she was. When he didn't see her, he wondered if he had finally snapped, and his mind was playing tricks on him. After all, why would she be in _this_ state, even if there was a Hellmouth here? He sang another, shorter song, letting his mind focus on the lyrics and the crowd.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Buffy walked through the small town, finding the park. Why had Spike been there singing, she wondered? He usually avoided small towns like the plague, _unless,_ she thought ruefully, _the town is Sunnydale. _He certainly didn't warble on a stage in front of strangers, since doing that heightened his desire for human blood. His presence there, though, changed everything. She knew he had a soul, to say nothing about the chip which prevented him from harming humans. She wondered how much he knew about the Hellmouth?

She was about to go to her room at the inn, complete with a computer, to check any information she could find out when she heard a growl behind her.

"Slayer…" one of the beings said. He was an orange hued demon, built like a tank. Beside him were two other demons, looking the same, and each growling.

Buffy looked to the ground, grabbing a long, sturdy tree branch with lightning speed.

"All right, which of you wants to die first?" she asked. The one who had said "slayer" lunged at her first. She jumped back as he pressed the attack. He gripped her in his huge, extremely strong arms, trying to squeeze the life out of her. Buffy's legs flailed out as she tried to break his monstrous grip. She then pulled her legs back, and with all her might, jumped on both feet.

The demon yowled as it released her. He attempted attacking her once more. The other demons circled, looking for an advantage when suddenly, one fell back into the shadows. It screamed a death scream then was silent. Buffy felt a sword being thrust at her from the shadows.

"Spike?" she cried as she sensed him. She felt his muscular back against her back as she eyed demon number three.

"We have to stop gettin' together like this!" he said as he held up his sword, ready for one of the demons to attack.

One jumped toward her, not close enough to be cut or otherwise injured by the broadsword, but closer than he had been. "So, I'm guessing, this is the only weapon that'll kill them?" Buffy asked Spike.

"You got it, pet," William said. He swung his sword at demon number two, piercing his shoulder. The demon's hand flew to it as he roared in pain. William then stabbed his heart with the blade, watching as the demon stared at him in shock, then fell over. He turned to see if Buffy needed help and then saw the beheaded third demon to the side of where she stood. The first demon and the second got back up, their wounds healing with rapid speed.

"Anything you're hiding from me?" Buffy queried.

William buried the sword in the demon's stomach, saying, "You mean like how do they die permanently? I'd tell you, kitten, but I don' think it would be a good idea, revealin' their secrets and all while they're walking around."

"Hunter…" one of the demons grumbled at William.

"Hunter?" Buffy asked as she sliced through demon number three's heart. "I thought your last name was Worthington."

"Long story, pet," he said, slicing off demon two's head finally. The demon fell to the ground. Demon one was not going to be on the receiving end of either sword. He parried, keeping well away from the Slayer and the Hunter. The demon finally spied an opening, and knocked William with a punch to his stomach to the ground. Buffy lunged for it, but the demon sidestepped her and her sword caught in a huge tree trunk. Buffy managed to pull it out as William started to stand, but the force of her tugging caused her to fall on top of him.

"Jus' my luck you're facing the wrong way for a quick bonk," William teased.

"Just _your_ luck I am facing the wrong way, or I might have accidentally turned you into a eunuch," Buffy returned. She became aware of a heartbeat suddenly, but didn't have time to react as she bounced back up, sword in hand. Demon one received the edge of her sword, but it had not done any significant damage.

William threw back the remaining demon, then beheaded him with his weapon. "Well, that's all in a night's work," he said, not looking at Buffy. He started walking away from her, but her hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"Spike…we have to talk," she told him.

"Not 'Spike' anymore," he responded, walking on. "I go by my human name now, as if you didn't know."

"And you don't want to tell me…" Buffy stopped as she realized that she had felt his heart beating, _his living heart._

"Oh, guh…you're alive!" she exclaimed.

He found the edge of the park gate and walked back to his flat. "So?" he asked defiantly, not looking at her.

"So, you wanna tell me why someone who was the living dead last time we saw each other is now just the living?" she asked as he walked past two small buildings. Presently, they reached his flat, which for its being a small apartment building looked well preserved.

The structure sported a New England style, which was more like a two tiered group of row houses rather than an apartment building. Fresh, blue paint adorned the outside, and the windows to each dwelling were trimmed with white paint. Shutters were covering many of the windows. William jammed his key in the lock and opened the front door. Buffy peered inside, seeing a grand hallway which resembled something from the 1700's.

He looked back at her suddenly, saying, "No." William took the stairs, two at a time, with Buffy doggedly on his heels.

He stopped by his apartment, not looking back at her.

"You're not invited," he snapped. When she crossed her arms, and frowned at him, he muttered, "There ought to be a rule other way round when a vamp, former or otherwise, doesn't want a human to come in."

"So you're _not _one," she repeated. He fixed her with a cold stare.

"The news bulletin sinking into that thing you call a brain _already_?" he mocked. "'S a wonder I ever was defeated by you an' your gang in the past."

Buffy refused to leave. Her face told him that she meant business. Of course, he reasoned, when had she ever _not _meant business? "Look, Slayer, or Beth, or wha'ever the hell they call you now…it's late. I'm tired, an' I'd like to go soak and do some other things that don't include you. So why don't you go home to wherever you're stayin' or better yet, leave an' forget we ever ran into each other," he said caustically.

Buffy was taken aback slightly. She had known Spike…William in many moods when they had been within a stone's throw of each other: moody, angry, angst ridden, frustrated, but he had always come back for more. He had always wanted her to stay, even if she had never acknowledged him. This vam…_man, _she corrected couldn't wait to get rid of her. She was surprised by how hurt she was.

"I'm not going away," Buffy told him. "So you might as well give."

William sighed, letting her inside his apartment. "Fine," he ground out. He walked inside and switched on a light. Buffy saw that although the architecture screamed Colonial, he had made the place his own. The walls were painted black, with white trim, and the floors were made from solid pine. They had carpeting which matched the walls, and whatever furnishings William had inserted were basic and sparse, as if the residence were a place he just visited but didn't really live in.

"It's…nice," she said after a beat. "They do have a remarkable invention called 'furniture'". You've heard of it?"

William snorted as he crossed to his spare bedroom. He threw his navy shirt, which covered a matching t-shirt, down on the bed and promptly closed the door. Grabbing a cigarette from his back pocket, he lit it and let the smoke curl around his light brown head. "What did you want to know?" he asked.

"Let's start with the basics. You were a vampire before. How did you become human?" she inquired, spying a black leather couch in his living room. She sank down on it, never taking her eyes off of him.

William sat across from her in a matching armchair. "How did I become human?" he drawled, taking a long drag as the past came back to him with precise clarity. His eyes found hers, and for a moment, he didn't say anything. Then, he smoked some more and shook his head.

"Sorry, pet," he told her. "'S on a need to know basis, an' I don't feel like sharin'."

Buffy could feel annoyance creeping up her wall of indifference. She didn't know why Sp—no, _William, _she corrected, was using secret-agent-speak on her. She'd hated it whenever Giles or Wesley had done it. She detested it now that William was doing it.

The Premiere Slayer decided to use something that would tip the scales in her favor. She fixed him with one of her patented scolding stares and accused, "So you got your humanity back illegally, right?"

William glared at her and stabbed his cigarette in a nearby ashtray. "Tha's what you'd like to think, eh, pet? Cause jus' thinking that I could have traded in my fangs for a set of chompers all legal like is driving you bonkers," he said in a low, dangerous voice. He got up and went into another room beside his bedroom. Buffy followed him, not waiting for an invitation. She saw as she got closer that the room was a makeshift gym of sorts, with a mat on the floor, at least two weight lifting machines, and a punching bag.

It was the small punching bag that saw the receiving end of William's anger as he flung his accusation at her. "You'd like to blame me for somethin', wouldn't you? I'll always be a blood sucker in your eyes; dirt beneath your feet! That's why it never would have worked between us, an' why I din't tell you when I came back," he said bitterly, raining punches in perfect rhythm on the bag.

He didn't wait for her response as he continued. "I mean, gettin' my _soul_ back wasn't even enough!" he spat, adding, "an' don't think that was a walk in the park!"

Buffy had had enough of his accusations. "Oh, yeah?" she said, moving toward him. "Well, who asked you to?! If you were so happy being evil, then you should have left well enough alone!"

William winced, deeply stung. He could feel his anger shift to the deepest hurt. Buffy's words had always managed to push his buttons when he least expected it. He had hoped after all this time that he was immune to her jibes, but if anything, they stung him now, almost five years later, just as much as they had when he had been with her romantically.

He whispered something she had to strain to hear about kittens and getting scratched, which Buffy realized deep down inside was nothing more than the truth. Whatever else, William hadn't lost his honesty. She knew that he was the one man in all of creation who always told the absolute truth. He never pulled his punches with her, the same way he wasn't holding back on the punching bag.

Sweat began to run down his still firm torso, gathering on his neck and the parts of his body that weren't covered with a t-shirt or pants. Despite all of her inner reassurances that she was way over him, Buffy found herself wishing she could join the sweat and run her fingers over his still washboard abs. She shook her head to clear the tempting thoughts away, telling herself that William was his own man now, off limits. The oldest Vampire Slayer was gloomy all of a sudden over the picture that being apart from him permanently presented. Buffy wasn't quite ready to apologize for the hurt she had caused him then and now, but neither was she ready to just walk out of his life once more.

_Besides, _she mentally reasoned, _I should maybe ask Giles what the what is on him. Can't really trust him just yet, even if he __**is**__ human with a soul._

As if he could read her thoughts, William reached over to a bench by the punching bag and grabbed a towel. He ran it over his face and said, "Just go, Buffy. Forget you found me; forget about Maine." He felt the cell phone in his pocket vibrate just then and yanked it from inside.

"Yeah…?" he asked curtly. "Okay, I'll meet you. Wha'?...Oh, nothin'. Just entertainin'. Right, yeh. Talk to you later." William hung up the cell phone. He stared at Buffy.

"Got business in town," he said to her, thrusting his hands into his pockets.

Buffy nodded, wanting to say something but not daring to. "Okay," she said. "Maybe I'll run into you on the way to the airport." She walked down the stairs and into the night air. Crossing to her rental car, the almost 29-year-old started the ignition and drove off slowly around the corner.

Seconds later, William emerged from his colonial looking dwelling and got onto his motorcycle. Honing his senses to make sure Buffy had gone, he rode off to meet his appointment.

Once she was sure he was enough out of range and couldn't sense her, Buffy followed him in the car. He was up to something, but what? If it was legitimate, then she would apologize profusely; if not, she owed it to whomever lived here to help them from the danger that had been Spike.

William pulled up to a row of motorcycles by a place not unlike the Bronze from the outside. As she saw the name on the sign, she thought sarcastically, _The Stardust Club? Boy, isn't __**that **__lame. _She got out of her car and went to the back to find a way inside without being detected by William.

_Showtime, _she thought as she picked the slightly rusted lock leading into the building.


	3. Chapter 3

AFFECTING PROBABILITY TWO, MENDING BROKEN FENCES: CHAPTER THREE

**A/N: This chapter has a little bit of angst between Buffy and Spike (William). It also introduces a new character.**

Buffy entered what she thought would be old folks dancing to music that she didn't begin to know, let alone appreciate. What she saw completely shocked her. The inside of the Stardust Club was almost a perfect duplicate of the Bronze. There were metal stairs leading up to a dance floor where people were moving and sweating to anything _but_ the waltz or the fox trot. Evanescence played as girls and guys younger than she were pressing their hot, sexually charged bodies together. Some people were taking in the bright lights and the smoky atmosphere; others were drinking at the expansive bar and slurring their speech. Still others were draining their cigarettes as if they wanted to drop dead from firsthand smoke any moment to escape their stress filled lives.

The Slayer started toward the upstairs area when she spotted William talking to a tall, thin woman who looked out of place in her smart business suit. She pushed a pair of attractive looking gold rimmed glasses up on her head and started dancing with him. Buffy suddenly felt upset as she stared, her eyes riveted towards the pair. She started making her way to where the former vampire and his latest female conquest gyrated to the beginnings of Coldplay.

"So, what's on with you?" William asked.

"Something has been altered with regards to the Hellmouth; I am exploring all of my resources to find out what," she told him. Fishing out a piece of paper and handing it to him, she continued on in a worried voice.

"All of my recent data point to the fact that this Hellmouth seems to be expanding," she said. "Do you have any information you might contribute to my investigations?"

William shook his head, saying, "Not my territory, Frannie. I'm jus' the relief pitcher. You're the coach, or maybe to look at you, the umpire."

Francesca Uppington-Smythe appraised her charge with her large, grey eyes. Her attractive, light pink lips curled into a frown, but there was no real malice behind it. She had gotten used to William's teasing.

"I may have to call in a few friends who can aid me in finding out more; particularly why your attacks on the Community haven't made any significant drains in the demon population," she said. "I'll let you know what I find out anything."

"Would be greatly appreciated, Fran," he said. As they started to part company Buffy came up suddenly.

"May I cut in?" she asked, never taking her eyes off of Francesca.

"Only if William's amenable," Francesca replied smoothly, though her look of nonchalance at Buffy's appearance was not registering in her eyes.

The look on William's face told Buffy and Francesca that he wanted to get some things off of his chest with the Slayer. "Well, I must visit the water closet," the auburn haired woman said, heading for the ladies' room. A local band was starting to set up on center stage. The brown haired human fixed the Premiere Slayer with angry, blue eyes.

"You're followin' me, right?" he accused her.

"And if I am?" Buffy challenged. When the leader of the band started singing something from "The Cure", the pair danced away slightly from the bathroom.

"There are laws against stalkin' someone," William bounced back. Buffy would have shrugged if her arms were free. As it was, she looked at him with a bland expression.

"I prefer to think of it as helping you," she countered, jerking her head in the direction Francesca had taken. "I mean, any man who would dance with toothpick girl back there needs professional help."

"That bird doesn't look _that _bad," William protested. He smiled at Buffy as he realized what her underhanded remark meant. "Jealous, Goldilocks?" he teased.

Buffy flung a cold stare at him. "No," she said, feeling her cheeks turning red.

"Liar," he flung back. The music switched to a slower song. William pulled her closer to him. For several moments, both swayed to the music, totally lost in each other. When Francesca exited the bathroom, her eyes appraised the blonde, green eyed Slayer. The red haired woman decided as her orbs ran up and down Buffy's lean, yet toned legs and golden tanned body that the Premiere Slayer was a girl who, apparently, delighted in staking her claim on someone else's territory. Even though William didn't have a clue that Francesca felt that way, she had taken comfort in the fact that when he'd told her that he didn't intend to date any more women if he could help it, she could, at least, be content to possess him from arm's length.

At night, when sleep claimed her, the older woman dared to dream of future dates, weddings, and baby making episodes with William. Now that her fantasies were threatened, and by a woman that Francesca judged to be a very disloyal and unstable girl who had kissed off the best man the Slayer could have had, the thirty-three year old decided that Buffy Summers was a threat that needed to be dealt with right away.

While he danced with Buffy, William had also been determined not to fall under his old inamorato's spell yet again, but when he looked into her large eyes breathed her essence as though it were resuscitating him, and nestled his shortly cropped brown hair against her lighter locks, he knew he was falling hard again. He wondered how many more times he would let his heart break before it had shattered beyond repair? He decided to give her and himself an easy out, pointing in the direction of the loo.

"I have to…you know," he said, not waiting for her to respond. Buffy's eyes blinked several times as she came back down from her haze. Realizing that she needed space to process what had happened, she didn't follow to wait for William, but went up to the bar instead.

Francesca joined her a moment later, taking the seat on Buffy's right. She helped herself to a beer that was already waiting for her. Apparently, Buffy decided, the woman was a regular.

"Buffy Summers," Francesca greeted coldly. "Well, well, well. I'd heard that the Number One Slayer was in Italy. I never thought she'd show up here at the end of the world. But now, here you are."

Buffy now used her turn to shrug. "It's as good a Hellmouth town as any to visit," she responded.

"But a bit far off the beaten path is it not?" Francesca queried. She leaned in closer as Buffy drank a glass of ice water in front of her.

"You probably know all about us, but even if you don't, I will set the record straight. We're perfectly capable of defending this province by ourselves. William and anything else here are off limits," the grey eyed, slightly older woman told her. Buffy was getting angry.

"Oh, so he's yours now?" she mocked. "I should have guessed! If the sign on your forehead reading 'back off: he's mine' were any larger, you'd have to move it to a billboard. From what I saw, though, you might want to let him know that he's your property."

"We're not involved," Francesca defended herself. "But he's one of my dearest friends."

"Why am I thinking from your attitude that you believe he's more than that?" the Premiere Slayer asked the redhead, a hint of challenge in her eyes.

"It does not matter _what_ you think," Francesca responded, just as angry. "Your services are not required here. Go home to Italy, to your Immortal boyfriend."

Both women failed to notice William emerging from the bathroom, his ears trained on their conversation. Buffy's head lowered slightly as she gave her previous boyfriend a moment's pause. Then, she fixed her eyes on Francesca.

"I was invited to come here by a friend of mine, and I don't leave stuff unfinished," Buffy said finally. "So, I'm staying until the Big Bad Evil here is totally snuffed. If that bothers you, the only thing I can say is that sooner or later, you'll have to deal."

Francesca wanted so badly to tear Buffy's head off, but in the interest of not causing a public display, she backed away. Before she left, the grey eyed beauty left her parting remark. "Just so we understand one another clearly: you break any part of his that is beating, I will not hesitate to break _you _into pieces so tiny, they'll need the mystic energies of a Hellmouth to find you," she spat. Francesca walked away, not noticing William, who had backed into the shadows before she departed.

The former vampire smiled. Although he told himself he really didn't need the headache of any female involvement, he loved all of the attention. It might not be a bad idea, he decided just then, to prime the pump a little, particularly where Buffy was concerned.

"As long as you're here, can I buy you a drink?" William asked Buffy. She nodded, and the pair sat side by side at the downstairs bar.

"What's her trip?" Buffy asked. William cocked his head to the side in the familiar gesture she found so sexy. When he didn't respond, Buffy tried again.

"Are you both involved?" She asked, annoyed. William shrugged.

"Only as much as a Hunter an' his female Watcher are supposed to be," he responded, signaling for the bartender. The bartender came by and asked for their orders. William asked him for a strong beer; Buffy did the same.

"_You _have a _Watcher?" _she asked disbelievingly.

"Boggles your mind, don't it?" William inquired, gauging her reaction. The bartender brought their drinks, placing them down quietly so the pair would not be disturbed. They drank silently for a moment.

"So, you're a Vampire Hunter?" Buffy guessed. "And, Vampire Hunters have female Watchers?" William nodded.

"She became mine about a year before," he said. "Fellow named George Joseph Frantz set it up."

"George _Frantz?" _Buffy repeated. "Is he about yea big…" she held her hand up slightly to match Giuseppe's height, …"and is he olive skinned, but he has a New England accent rather than an Italian one?"

"Yeh," William confirmed. "You know him?"

"He invited me here from Italy," Buffy said. Her mind raced in an attempt to put the pieces together. "I wonder why he invited me to come? He knew you were here, so why get me involved, particularly given our past history?" Before William answered, Buffy snorted.

"I'm starting to sound like Giles, huh?" She asked William.

"Yeh, you do sound like Rupes all told," he said. "What's the story with him, anyway? You heard from him or anyone else in your Scooby gang lately?"

"Nope, not since we split up four years ago," Buffy said so nonchalantly that William was peering at her. He had seen apathy before, and he didn't like its flavor at all. It was bad enough to pretend to feel it like he did, but Buffy was now letting it begin to dominate her for real. She took a long swig of beer, and William saw another thing take hold of her that he didn't like. He cast his mind back to the past, and, except for a few isolated incidents, he didn't remember Buffy having taken to beer with such abandon before. Now, she drank it as if she and it were old roommates.

"Drink that stuff often?" William queried. Buffy stopped in mid-swig. She lowered the bottle, her eyes narrowing to slits.

"Why?" She ground out. "You think I'm Beer Bottle Girl, now?"

"As opposed to Caveman Beer Girl?" William flung back. "Sure hope bloody well not." He signaled for the bartender and, when the man appeared, gave Buffy's half empty bottle back to him. He ordered water for both of them, staring at the Slayer's annoyed look.

"Bein' drunk looks bad on me, but it looks toxic on you," he remarked sadly. "You don't wear it well, pet."

"Thanks for the public safety announcement," Buffy told him sarcastically.

"'M serious, kitten," he said. "So far, I'm guessin' you can take it or leave it, but it's startin' to control your life." The bartender gave them two ice waters as William's soft words drifted to her.

"You wanna change your job description of 'Premiere Vampire Slayer' to 'Premiere Washed-Up Lush'?" William asked.

"Who cares _what _I become, so long as I do my job, then blow out of everyone's lives?" Buffy fired back. Not recalling William's offer to pay, she threw some bills up on the table, then bounded up from the hard stool. William followed her, leaving some money by his spot.

"Buffy!" he called as he matched her angry strides out of the club.

She spun around, tears threatening to form. "It's a mistake," she said in a low voice. "It's all a mistake! Francesca was right. You can probably handle everything! I'll only get in the way!" She turned away, but William's next words made her pause.

"Don't go," he said. Buffy spun back to face him. William hung his head so that she couldn't catch his reaction.

"Don't go, no' like this," he whispered. "Let's finish the job we got, then, if you want to leave again, I won' stop you. But don't go in anger."

"I can't stay," Buffy said, now openly crying. "I…". She took a deep breath as she confessed. "I hurt you before, without meaning to. I watched you die, and I let it happen."

William came close, reaching out with his bigger thumbs and wiping the tears away from her face. "Yeh," he said, "I won' lie to you. You _did _watch me die. I never got the feeling that you really cared." He let his words hang on the slight breeze before speaking again.

"But, maybe we can find a place to begin again now," he suggested softly. "No' as lovers, an' not as friends, but as partners, yeah?" Buffy sniffled, then nodded.

"We'll find out what we can, then put the nasties out of business, and then, take it from there…or not?" she asked. "Sounds good to me."

She and William walked off in the direction of her car as, unnoticed by the pair, Giuseppe watched them from a nearby vantage point. When they had gotten into Buffy's rental car and she pulled off, the Italian American morphed into the form of the red haired, dark blue eyed, dragonfly winged form of Trillionanaoscapie. The Fairy Man offered up a prayer to the Creator of All that maybe, just maybe, the former vampire and the Number One Slayer would make not only a fresh, but healthy, relationship from all of this. He waved his arms, opened a portal, and stepped through it to Aramathea and the one person who could advise him on how best to proceed from this point.


	4. Chapter 4

AFFECTING PROBABILITY TWO: MENDING BROKEN FENCES

CHAPTER FOUR

XXXXXXXXXXX

Trillion stepped through the dimensional portal between Hemstead, Maine and his home in the Kingdom of Aramathea as easily as persons who step through train doors. Although his mission was far from complete, he was glad to be home, if only for a brief moment. Thoughts of his wife, Cinderella, who was nearing the end of her pregnancy, consumed him, partly because, like any father dealing with a first pregnancy, the Fairy Man hoped that everything would go well with the delivery of the twins.

He also was like the proverbial fish out of water concerning what would be the first birth resulting from a mixed union between Human and Fae. Usually, when Fairies mated and created children, the offspring was magically removed from the mother after a month's time so that it could be transported to the Element of Nature designated for the child to draw its magic powers from. The processed had been called "Absorption" because the future Fairy often took absorbed certain characteristics associated with the Element he or she had been surrounded by.

He remembered how his sister, Stardust, had been placed in the eye of a powerful storm by his parents, not because it would be dangerous, but because Trillion's younger sister was destined to draw her powers from the Elements of the Air.

His cousin, Jeremyah, had been taken and placed in, of all things, an Polar Ice Cap in the Northern Kingdom that he was from. The result was that when he was old enough, he quickly became a Master of the Winter Elements, most notably Snow and Ice.

Trillion was taken from his mother's womb at the proper time and, to ensure he would have multiple powers derived from all or at least most of the Elements as it had been Ordained, he was placed for the duration of his Absorption in the petals of a Rose in a Magic Brook during a cyclone. The Enchanted Rose, which had withstood the heavy winds, had been covered by the soil. To also make the special Fae's mastery of Time a certainty, he was enhanced by a spell from Father Chronnius, the High Priest of Time in Aramathea.

But although Cinderella knew about the Absorption of Magic, she had insisted once she had asked, and gotten, a special dispatch from the Fey Queen that her babies be born by natural, human means. They would still be taken at the proper time to their designated mystic place, but rather than their absorption transpiring after their first month inside of the Little Cinder Girl, the twins would be taken during their first week after their birth. So it was during this hopefully final week of pregnancy that his wife waited patiently for the delivery of their children. If left to his own devices, Trillion would have constantly stayed by her side, but she had insisted that he engage in this matchmaking mission.

"_Believe me, you have naught to fear," she had tried to assure him. "I am in the best hands possible. Your cousin, Jeremyah, is here; so is your sister, Stardust, as well as Jery's wife, Briar Rose. So you needn't worry."_

"_But suppose something goes wrong?" Trillion had asked worriedly._

"_What could possibly go wrong?" Cinderella queried. Jeremyah had bent over the Girl of Cinder and Ash and was examining her. Like his father before him, the older cousin on Trillion's mother's side of the family was also the Premiere Doctor of the Fae. He had experience treating both humans and faeries._

"_Won't do any good for you to make your wife worry, cousin," Jeremyah said, his Northern British Accent reminding Trillionanaoscapie of another friend of his who time traveled in a blue box. His cousin bore such a striking resemblance to the Ninth Doctor that sometimes, if Trillion had not seen neither his cousin's unique aura, nor his diaphanous wings, Trillion would have sworn that Jery was the Gallifreyan. _

"_Go, my love," Cinderella bade him. "Go and help those who need you most."_

_Trillion looked at his family. They were all nodding in unison. He fixed them with a stern look. "You are sure?" he asked. "You will notify me the __**moment **__my love gives birth?"_

"_Yes, yes," Jery told his cousin. Briar Rose, the newest Fairy in the bunch since she was a former human who had been changed, gave Trillion a sympathetic look. Her hazel eyes, which sometimes looked as though the weight of the world was in them, entreated him to leave._

"_Twill be much easier if you are not hanging around every second, cousin," she said. "I will attend to your wife, and so will Stardust."_

_Stardust, ever the optimist of the family, said to her older brother, "Do not worry, Trill-trill! Everything will be fine, and you will have two beautiful gems to show for it!" Trillion turned to Cinderella, who by this time, was lying down, but who also gave him the "thumbs up" gesture he had taught her._

"_Go," she commanded softly. Trillion came close, bending over her, and kissing her passionately. Inside her stomach, the babies kicked with equal fervor. He gestured, flinging open the door which would take him to Future Earth and his latest mission._

In the present, Trillion asked Jeremyah if he could see Cinderella, to which his cousin replied, "Sure. She's due soon, but your children are takin' their own sweet time, being born into this world." The close cropped, acidic tempered, older cousin stepped outside of the bedroom to give the human girl and faerie privacy.

When they were alone, Trillionanaoscapie kissed his wife tenderly.

"How fare you, Bella Mia?" Trillion asked. Cinderella fixed him with the sweetest smile, which of course told the Faerie Man that he was in some kind of trouble.

"I am well, my dearest," she said. She motioned for Trillion to come closer. When he did, she jerked his tunic toward her.

"Oommph!" Trillion cried. Cinderella stroked his wings, and as he sighed, showing his pleasure at being touched in such a manner, she blew into his elfin ear.

"I have just decided that whether we deliver our children from now on by your methodology or by mine, you are going to do it rather than me," she instructed. Trillion pulled back and fixed her with a quizzical stare.

"But Cind," he protested, "Even with all of my powers, I am not exactly equipped to either carry children inside of me, or deliver them…"

The Girl of Cinder and Ash punctuated her next instructions. "_Then get yourself equipped_!" She told him. "Got it?" she asked sweetly again. Trillion hastily nodded.

"How goes your mission? Are Buffy and Spike together yet?" Cinderella asked.

Trillion shook his head. "The damage that has been done to them emotionally is considerable," he told her. "I checked the tomes several times. They are destined to be together, though as what, I couldn't begin to tell you."

"Well, were there any feelings deeper than friendship between them?" his wife wanted to know.

"Yes, there were," Trillion responded, his American accent becoming more pronounced. "But he is keeping such a huge distance, and she is, too. I can't use the Fairy Dust on them; I can't force them to love each other, and anyway, it wouldn't be true love if I magically induced it." He flew up to one of the shelves containing knickknacks and sat on it, placing his dejected face between his fisted hands. The Fairy Man was turning blue with melancholy.

The British young woman considered for a moment. She then advised her husband, "It sounds to me like the feelings are there; they have just forgotten how much they truly mean to each other."

Ever the temperamental fae, Trillion shouted, "I _know _that, Cind!" He quieted down, turning back to a normal shade. "Tell me something I don't know," he begged.

"When you first returned from the Fae Kingdom to my world, your feelings for me were there, were they not?" Cinderella asked him.

"Yes," he answered, flying back down to her.

"But you didn't realize that you still loved me until seeing me with another man solidified your feelings, correct?" she queried.

"Uh, huh," Trillion responded. He pursed his lips thoughtfully, then asked, "Bella cara, are you suggesting that I…?"

"Do a Clarification Spell?" Cinderella finished for him. She nodded, saying, "Yes. Make them realize what they truly mean to each other, then let them proceed from there. I am certain that will do the trick."

Trillion hovered over her and took her face into his hands. He kissed his wife, exclaiming, "Yes! I'll do it! Cind, you _are _a genius!"

"Female…genius…same thing," she teased. Trillion checked a book in the bedroom and after he was certain he could bestow the right spell on both protagonists, he reopened the portal between the past and the future. He stepped through, blowing another kiss to his beloved.


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE

Xxxxxxxxxx

Buffy pulled up in front of William's apartment and shut off the engine. The former vampire didn't leave, but looked at her intently. "Buffy," he said, "you'll lay off the stuff, right?"

When Buffy didn't answer, he asked a heartfelt, "Please? I can't sleep if I know you're out there bein' stoned, 'yeh? I need to know you're okay."

Buffy turned and lost herself for a moment in his blue eyes. "I promise," she said wholeheartedly, "no more drinks for Buffy." When William smiled, she added, _"If _you agree to quit smoking."

William stammered and stuttered for a moment. Was she really asking him to give up his pastime, something that was like breathing to him? But this was _Buffy, _his partner in spirit as well as name, and he would not disappoint her. Wordlessly, he withdrew the pack of cigarettes from his pocket and chucked them out the window.

Buffy's look told him she wasn't done yet. "Now the lighter," she demanded, holding out her hand.

William blanched, then moaned, "No' my lighter!"

Buffy bent her arm slightly, her hand still outstretched. "Come on," she commanded. William reluctantly thrust the lighter into her hand.

"Here," he said, crossing his arms like a petulant five-year-old and frowning. "Keep it, pet. Somethin' to start some new memories of me with."

Buffy took the lighter and nodded, opening the door. William exited the car, thinking that he might as well watch the SOAP channel; maybe, if he were lucky, some episodes of _Passions _would be on, or _Young and the Restless._ He watched the Premiere Slayer drive off and turned, facing his door. Before he inserted his key, he heard a feminine hissing sound: no, he realized, _two _hissing sounds, from behind.

He swung around to face the new threat and realized that he had seen his attacker before. _Strange, _he mentally commented, _never knew there were __**two **__o' them._

Two female vampires stood in front of the Hunter, their mouths drooling, their glowing yellow green eyes flashing as they prepared to fight. "Angie, right?" William guessed. "My old flame from two months ago. Never thought you had a twin sister." He reached for a case of matches, preparing to strike one on its casing. Angie Number One leaped in the air and tackled him to the ground before he could light it. Angie Number Two grabbed the matchbook and flung it into the shadows.

"Whatcha' gonna do _now, _Willie?" Number Two purred. William flung Number One off of himself enough to get up, then he withdrew a small arrow from his pocket.

"This…" he said, ramming it into Angie One's heart. She evaporated into a cloud of dust.

Angie Number Two's smug look vanished. She circled her opponent, then jammed him with her heeled foot. William grabbed her leg and flung her off. The coffee haired vampire beauty bounced back for more, punching him with a left, then a right. The Hunter tried to jab her with the miniature arrow, but she knocked it out of his hand.

"No matches, and no arrow," she mocked. "Too bad."

"Yeh," William agreed, "makes my job tougher." When she let him have a full dose of her canine smile, the former vamp added, "An' also, more fun." They traded punches, her to his face, him to her chest; her to his chest, him to her stomach for a few minutes.

"Fun!!" Angie Two echoed. "You don't have a leg to stand on." She grabbed the former vampire, ready to bury her fangs into this throat and rip it apart, but William was smiling as he grabbed another weapon from his pocket: a tiny vial of holy water. He threw it in her face. Angie Two let go of him just then. He ran inside of his apartment before she could catch him. The young vampire gave chase, but was blocked by the invisible barrier.

"Funny thing about when we were shaggin', pet," he said to her clawing visage in the doorway. "Always did it a' your hovel, not mine, since I din't have my new digs yet."

Angie One screamed her frustration and continued trying to break through to get inside. William's eyes scanned the downstairs hallway until he found something he could use: a candle on a table in the main foyer.

"An' now that I do, you are _so _not invited in," he told her. Number One's eyes flashed.

"Don't you _EVER _shut up?" she grumbled.

"No' a lick," he told her. He thrust the candle through the barrier and watched as it caught fire on her, incinerating her. "No' that you'll ever notice," he added. William rubbed his hands together and punched in a number on his cell phone.

Francesca answered, complaining, "Don't you ever sleep at all?"

William said brusquely, "I want you to look up someone for me. Her name is Angie Willis. I want to know about her home life, her family an' whether they're alive an' kickin'."

Francesca yawned, but said, "Consider it done. Anything else?"

"Nope," William said, adding, "sweet dreams, Frannie." He hung up before she could criticize his calling her by the name she hated. The Hunter went into his bathroom to shower while he waited.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Not too far from where William was, Buffy fought some foes of her own. She had managed to wrench them from an old woman they were trying to kill. The Premiere Slayer told the woman to get away as quickly as she could. While the woman was hobbling off, Buffy saw from the corner of her eye that there were six of them, and they were identical. They also resembled the orange faced demons she and William had fought not too long ago.

_What is this? A convention or something? _She mentally complained. The former Spike had told her beheading was the only way to destroy them, but as she flicked open the lighter in her hand, she also wondered if maybe fire would do the trick.

"Yourree ours now, Sllaayyerr," one growled. Buffy let him have it with the lighter. She was pleased to note that he burned up totally, leaving no trace.

"What was that?" she jeered, holding up her weapon. The demons backed away but didn't run away. Slayer and Demons were considering their next moves.

Buffy turned and ran toward her car. The demons gave chase. The Slayer opened her front door and slid into the driver's seat. The fifth demon got to her first as she had swung the door shut and the Slayer was power locking the windows. His big arm thrust through the small opening in the window. Buffy turned on the ignition and started driving, taking Demon Five for a joy ride as she dragged him down the street. Her eyes darted to the rear view mirror; the other demons were following at incredible speed.

The Premiere Slayer reversed, throwing the demon sans arm away from the car. She unlocked the window, letting out an "eww!" as the demon's arm dislodged from the space it had been in. Buffy could see it getting up and growing another arm. She drove around a corner and spotted Giuseppe walking on the sidewalk. Buffy angled the vehicle so that it was partially in front of where he was walking.

"Giuseppe!" she screamed. "Get in, _now_!" She flung open the door as the demons came into view. Giuseppe's eyes saw where she was glancing and he got in on the passenger side, banging the door closed. She spun the wheel, tossing and turning the car so that their pursuers could not leap onto the hood. Meanwhile, the Italian American seemed to be saying something under his breath.

_Prayer's always good, _Buffy thought. Out of nowhere, a thunder storm brewed. Buffy wondered where that had come from. _Oh, well, _she mentally told herself, _who can predict the weather? _She activated her windshield wipers as the downpour became heavier. Giuseppe muttered something else. Buffy was scanning her rain soaked, hard-to-see-out-of windows. Where the demons were behind them, lightning struck and incinerated them.

Buffy had seen a flash in her rearview mirror. The storm let up as suddenly as it had come. She stopped the vehicle and opened the door, running to where the demons had been. She saw a tiny wisp of smoke which evaporated in the soft rain. Giuseppe followed.

"Imagine that!" she said, smiling at him. "Guess the Powers That Be gave us a freebee, huh?" Giuseppe's knowing look told her that he knew what powers she spoke of.

"Guess so," he said. "Thanks, by the way, for saving me."

"You're welcome," Buffy responded. They walked back to the car as the rain stopped.

When they'd gotten inside, Giuseppe said to her, "I'd like to show my appreciation some other way. How about a home cooked meal? I make the best fettuccine on both continents!" Buffy could feel her stomach growling.

"Okay," she agreed. Giuseppe smiled when she turned on the car's engine and they rode away.

XXXXXXXXX

Later, as they dined in the Italian American's swank apartment, Giuseppe held up the sparkling grape juice bottle, offering, "More grape juice?"

Buffy declined, saying, "no, thanks. You filled me up with so much sugar it's a wonder I'm not bouncing off the walls now." The Slayer had noticed the extra sweet taste of the juice, but not wanting to hurt Giuseppe's feelings, she had drunk her first glass. He filled her glass at least twice more. Buffy liked the fact that the Italian American had taken her in by paying for her expenses and by cooking a fabulous meal. He seemed like the brother she'd never had. She downed the last of the third glass of grape juice and polished off her fettuccine.

"So," she said conversationally, "how do you know William?"

Giuseppe wiped his mouth and told her, "I work for an organization which keeps track of special people: defenders, and the like." Buffy nodded.

"I figured you worked for something like that," she mused. "Does he work for you, too?"

"Yes and no," Giuseppe replied cryptically. "William, like you, marches to the beat of his own drummer. We do elicit his services from time to time however." He studied her.

"But I'll wager you have another question you'd like to ask," Giuseppe said.

Buffy stared at him, wondering aloud, "Why'd you pair me with him? You could have gotten any one of a dozen Slayers to help him."

Giuseppe sipped his juice, saying, "So you are not happy to see him, then."

Buffy's lowered her eyes. "I…" she faltered. She took a breath, saying, "It's just…complicated."

Giuseppe's face was one of sympathy. "Relationships always are," he said. "I'm guessing things didn't end well between you two."

Buffy didn't know why, but she found herself wanting to tell Giuseppe the truth about her relationship with the former Spike. "No, it didn't," she said softly.

She told the Italian American about the first time they'd met, knowing that he would understand about vampires without being judgmental. Buffy discussed her and Spike's growing closer, his falling in love with her, his reensoulment, and his death, her tale ending with, "So, now, here we are: partners."

The Italian American took the dishes and put them in the sink. He came back to the living room where Buffy had sat on the couch. "Partners. Sounds lonely," he commented.

"Not really," she told him. Giuseppe sat in the chair to her right and looked at her.

"Maybe," she amended, "you're right."

"You can always change the parameters of the relationship," he suggested.

Buffy shook her head. "It's too late for that," she said sadly.

Giuseppe snorted, insisting, "It's never too late to undo what has been done! Things can change for the better if you work to make it so."

Buffy stood up, wanting to go home before she let her feelings about William engulf her. "I wish they could," she whispered in a voice she thought Giuseppe could not hear.

"I have made you uncomfortable, Senora," he said. Buffy hastened to reassure him.

"No, it's just that I'm tired, and I need sleep," she told him.

"You certainly do," Giuseppe pronounced. "We will discuss business another time, perhaps with your partner, eh?"

"Perhaps," the Slayer told him as she let herself out.

When the Italian American was certain she'd gone, he morphed into the form of Trillion. The red haired, blue eyed faerie went into his kitchen and selected a bowl with the four symbols of Air, Water, Earth and Fire on it. He opened his salt shaker and poured some red powder resembling clay in the bowl. Lighting the dirt, he conjured up his wand, saying, "Come on, Winnie" to his wand. "We have work to do."

He waved the glowing stick over the bowl three times as the smoke rose in a pretty cloud of hot pink into the atmosphere.

"_This spell I cast for the Partners that Be, the Man Named William Worthington and his Slayer Buffy. Unbind their feelings; isolate the denials. Reveal the positive; dispel the negative. As I speak these mystic words, I command Air, Water, Earth, Fire: repair their fractured psyches, recall their deep desire. _

_Let the light of Clarity spill over on the Lovers that Can Be. Reveal to them, their feelings for each other deep within. By the Power of the Fae, my will I loose, my spell will stay, until such time as I cast it away. By Magick's Light, So Mote It Be."_

His wand glowed brighter, and the smoke ebbed, returning into the bowl. Trillion grinned, saying to himself, "Now, Buffy and Wiliam: we'll see, we'll see."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

In his flat William slept, lulled to sleep by the amount of sparkling grape juice he had drunk at dinner. Giuseppe had given him the bottle when they'd first met, and since the Hunter had not had a chance to get any other beverages besides beer, he had two glasses of the stuff before declaring it had been "too sweet". Still, it was nice of the man to give William something upon inviting him to Maine a year ago, and it was good that the juice had a long shelf life.

He hugged his pillow tighter, wondering how he had gotten so _tired _all of a sudden. _Prob'bly the sugar, _William mentally decided, drifting off into a deep, dreamless sleep.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

In her room at the Inn, Buffy was already asleep, not dreaming for the first time in a long time. Her last conscious thought was how happy she had been that she had decided to share everything with Giuseppe. She grabbed Mr. Gordo, burying her face in his stuffed warmth.

As the future lovers slept, they were unaware of the Universe shattering changes that were about to befall them in the days ahead.


	6. Chapter 6

AFFECTING PROBABILITY TWO: MENDING BROKEN FENCES, CHAPTER SIX

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Buffy woke up to incessant pounding on her door the next morning. "What…?" she asked as she went to open it. The Premiere Slayer was surprised to see William on the other side of it so early.

"Thought you were a night owl," she said.

"Yeh, well, you know big nasties attack twenty-four seven," he said. She noticed that he wasn't wearing his traditional all black wardrobe, but a dark hunter green t-shirt with indigo blue jeans. He had bleached his hair just the way she remembered. It stood up in little spikes on his head. Buffy decided that she liked him either way; it was almost sinful how sexy he looked to her.

William saw Buffy's bunny slippers and her mismatched silky robe with big roses on it. He smirked, saying, "you might want to change, pet, although you're not wearin' anythin' I haven't seen before." Buffy wasn't about to be disarmed by his comment.

She replied, "Come in. I'll change."

When she went into her bedroom and shut the door, William made himself at home on the dark red easy chair in her suite. The whole room resembled something out of _Pretty Woman._ There were maroon vases containing feathers in them. An armoire was on the far wall, its maroon hues resting on a wall smothered in peachy tones. The couch was a beige leather confection; it was very posh leather, inviting him to sit on it. The wall-to-wall carpet was a navy blue which complemented the dark vases. It had an Indian motif and was bordered with a cream color. A rich, mahogany desk with a laptop and printer was over on the other side of the room from where the armoire was.

There was also a little bar with every drink imaginable. William was pleased to notice that Buffy had not imbibed any liquor since she had promised him she wouldn't.

A moment later, Buffy's head poked out of the room. "I'm gonna take a shower," she said. "Do you need to use the bathroom?"

"No thanks," he responded, "I'm fine." Buffy ducked back behind her bedroom door and shut it once again. When the former vampire heard the shower running, an unbidden image of Buffy in it came to his mind. He pictured her using her vanilla scented soap, letting it run in rivulets down her naked body. William could feel himself growing hard instantly. He groaned, forcing himself to think about something else. He walked outside on the veranda, spying the neighborhood in all of its sunbathed glory.

The former revenant always knew that, once he became human once more, he would never be able to get enough of sunrises or sunsets. Of all the things he'd had to kiss off when he had joined the ranks of the undead, the hardest thing was not being able to enjoy the sun saying its "good bye" every evening as it dipped below the horizon, or its "hello" every morning as it tried to poke through the thick London fog, or caressed the countryside in California. Ever since his transformation back into the human set, he became mesmerized by every sunrise and every sunset. His inner poet wanted to write about each one; he knew they were all unique.

This morning, he had noted before leaving to meet Buffy, the sun had spilled in through his bedroom window just as it had for the past year through the dark blinds he had put in inside his flat. He had yawned, stretched, and prepared to embrace the dawn. He had not flinched or recoiled anymore in fear of direct sunlight hitting him and making him burn. William had raised the blinds to greet the light, then he'd stared at it a little; not too long, lest his eyes be blinded by the intense light.

Now, as he waited for his partner, his mind began to wander. To him, Buffy was his sunlight, a brilliant, golden star designed to be worshipped and admired. He grew hard again as he remembered a time when he had gotten the Gem of Amara. Buffy was walking across the schoolyard at Sunnydale University, the rays of the sun caressing her hair. He had found that he couldn't take his eyes off of her radiance.

It was that fact that had made him want to shag her, and then kill her and bathe himself with her blood. Of course, he had been evil then, a creature without a soul, but even so, the Slayer had put herself on a pedestal for him without even knowing it, and he would pay homage to her greatness.

His mind jerking back to the present, William walked to the desk and opened the drawer. He sat down and pulled out the inn's stationery. He began to write a poem about her, thinking about what he would say.

_My love is golden, a goddess made from the kiss of the sun…_he started putting on the paper.

"Really nice," a voice commented. William jumped as Buffy studied the piece of paper on the coffee table.

"You're writing poetry again?" she asked. William's mask fell back into place as he instantly looked defensive.

"'S just a little something," he said flippantly. He crumpled up the paper and threw it in the wastebasket.

"I didn't say anything," Buffy said. "I think it's great that you're writing again."

William raised a brow, then murmured, "You didn't used to think so before. As I recall, you were embarrassed by it."

Buffy grabbed both of her arms, running her hands up and down them as if she had caught a chill. She searched for a viable excuse about why she hadn't encouraged his poetry.

"I...uh, didn't...well, there was..." she began. Back when they were getting to know each other on a different level from Slayer and Slayee she didn't know why she had not wanted him to write about her. Now that she thought some more about it, Buffy realized that it was because maybe, just maybe, if she saw the true window to his unbeating heart rather than the image of being the Big Bad that he'd presented and everyone else expected, it would make him more human. She hadn't been ready for that. Buffy still didn't know if she was ready for a glimpse of the true William beneath the fantasy that had been Spike.

She could see William staring at her, apparently sensing her discomfort. After a beat, he said, "Look, pet, we were both younger, an' kinda clueless about a lo' o' things. Let's just leave it at that."

Buffy lowered her arms, saying, "Yeah. You're right."

She noticed that, for some reason, a vail had lifted with William's statement just then. The Number One Slayer didn't know why, but it almost seemed that, the more she tried to be indifferent to him, the more she couldn't even recall a spark of nonchalance. From the look on his face as his blue eyes met her green ones, she could tell that he felt the same way.

William looked at her clothes. He said slowly, "You've dressed in one o' my favorites." When Buffy looked a little confused, he clarified, "The top."

Buffy took in her black tank top and dark jeans. "It's just an old top," she said after a beat. "Nothing special. I've had this for maybe five years, give or take."

"Always thought you looked hot in it, luv," William commented, then wondered where the endearment he used to call her had come from. They both realized that his calling her "luv" had been the first time he'd said that since the time they'd been together. The former revenant cleared his throat.

"Maybe I should tell you what Frannie found," he said. "She called me about it this morning." He pulled out a small pad and flipped to the middle.

"Angie Willis, a vamp I dusted last night, paid a call on me," he began saying.

"Angie Willis," Buffy cut in. "What's so special about her?"

William said, "she tried to put me six feet under. No' a strange thing in itself, given that I fight for the other side now, but the plot thickener is that there were two Angies fightin' me."

Buffy crossed her arms, saying, "And?" William got up from his chair and looked around for her kitchen.

"Got anythin' to nosh on?" he asked, walking into the small kitchen and looking into her refrigerator. "I answer questions better on a full stomach."

He frowned when he saw only a smattering of eggs and a handful of cheddar cheese. The opening of Buffy's freezer revealed some veggie sausage patties. William frowned.

"Still eatin' like a hummingbird, eh, kitten?" he surmised.

"Why do you care?" she bounced back, then she kicked herself for thinking about his previous unlife instead of remembering his now human life.

"This body doesn't function on hemoglobin, pet," he reminded her. He rambled through her cabinets and, selecting a small bowl, proceeded to mix the eggs and cheese into a scrambled mess. Spying a small frying pan, he placed it on the oven the inn had provided.

"Least Italian Guy provided a li'l stove for you. Ever use it?" he teased. He heated the pan, then dumped the contents of the bowl into it. While he watched as it covered the pan, he asked, "You have a coffee pot in here?"

Buffy shrugged, saying, "I dunno. It might be in a cabinet. I usually call room service."

The former nightcrawler said dryly, "Figured as much. When I knew you, it was take away each night unless your Mum cooked, or Giles. Din't think that had changed."

Buffy admitted, "when I got Mom's job of looking after Dawnie when she died we ate out a lot unless Giles or Willow cooked, or maybe sometimes Riley."

When William stared at her with the famous tilting of his head, Buffy said, "Hello, Slayer here. When did you become Rachel Ray, anyway?"

"Not my favorite chef," he responded. "Nigella…now, there's one to watch!" He realized Buffy was waiting for an answer and he said, "Bitin' people back in the day was fun at first, but it got borin' after a time, so I studied cookin' books, an' then, when Cable became available, I got the food channel and studied some chefs there."

When Buffy gave him a look, Spike said, "Well how do you think Li'l Bit survived when the bloody Scoobies din't feed her? On Chinese take away?" He turned the stove's flame off, and deposited half of his culinary masterpiece on a plate for him that he'd put on the table in the living room area earlier, and put the remainder on a plate for her.

"Eat," he commanded, getting some silverware from the kitchen.

While she ate, Buffy considered. She had never asked any of her friends how Dawn had been taken care of when they were at school or work, and she had known William hadn't needed human food when he was Spike, so she had not even assumed he'd cooked for her sister (or anyone) during her "absence" when she was six feet under. But if everyone had been on patrol, well, Dawn _did _have to be watched by someone, and knowing her sister and her crush on him, she would have invited Spike into her house when everyone else was preoccupied.

"You cooked for Dawn?" she asked.

"Thought a person with an IQ of minus 75 could see _that_ comin'," he said sarcastically. When Buffy didn't respond, William said seriously, "Yeh. Several times when you were…" he started to say "dead", but then said finally, "…away. 'Bit always praised my cookin'."

Buffy nodded, then said simply, "Thanks." When he grunted, she said, "I mean, if I forgot to say it before."

"You're welcome," he whispered. Buffy expected a Spike-esque comeback, but he had none. She dug into his egg and cheese pancake once more, and was surprised at how good it tasted with each subsequent bite.

William ate a huge mouthful, then asked, "You got any coffee in here? An' I don't mean the instant variety, Goldilocks." He rummaged through a cabinet below the sink and stood up with a coffee pot and a can of coffee. Apparently, Giuseppe had thought of everything.

Buffy pointed to the small cabinet behind the table. "Why shouldn't we call for room service?"

"Why waste Italian Guy's pounds?" he retorted.

William pulled out the filters and two mugs. He brewed the coffee as Buffy finished the breakfast.

"We gotta get some grub for you," he pronounced, adding, "an' for me too, seein' as I'll be visiting a lot."

"Okay," Buffy agreed.

"There's a huge store in the next town over with good prices," William told her. "We c'n drive over while we go over what we know."

The sound of the coffee being ready silenced any more dialogue for a moment. Buffy poured the steaming hot coffee into the mugs. They both drank from them, then after putting the dishes in the sink they headed out to Buffy's car.

"You have to give me directions," Buffy stated. William snapped his seat belt closed and lowered the window.

"Go straight ahead three blocks, then turn left. That'll take you to Highway 46. Drive about another eight blocks 'til you can't drive anymore. You'll hit the town of Green River. Store's the biggest thing there," he said.

"Okay," Buffy said, following his first direction. After turning left, she queried, "So, what about Angie?"

"I smelled two identical scents, which is impossible, even in identical twins. Struck me as odd, so I asked Frannie to check on Angie's background. Turns out Angie was an only child," he answered. Buffy turned onto the exit for Highway 46.

"So, you're saying that she was somehow able to...duplicate herself?" the Premiere Slayer asked.

"Strange, isn't it?" he wondered aloud.

"Not so strange," Buffy responded. "Remember those three orange demons we fought the first night I came?"

"Kinda hard to forget, kitten," William answered.

"Well, apparently, those three had babies or rather they went through a giant copying machine and doubled themselves. Their signature was the same on my Spidey sense," Buffy reported. "When we get back from shopping, I'll contact my sources or Giuseppe and find out more about what's going on."

William said, "Sounds good. Maybe my Watcher has found something else, too."

She pulled up into the parking lot of a huge store just like the one William had told her about. The sign read, _Piggy Wiggy Grocery Store: all your vittels in one place. Open 24 hours a day, except Sundays._

"Couldn't they think of a name with more class or something, like 'Safeway', or 'Wal Mart'?" Buffy commented.

"Like those names would give it a regal elegance," William said dryly. He got out of the car and got a shopping cart. Buffy followed him into the brightly lit store.

As they meandered down some isles, Buffy asked in a low voice, "So, yours went through the same copier, huh?"

"Sounds like," William answered. He headed over to the dairy section and got milk, eggs, bacon, and orange juice. Buffy put back the pork bacon, selecting a veggie bacon.

"Oi!" the Vampire Hunter protested. "I'm no' eating bacon made from a carrot stalk an' whatnot."

"Well, veggie bacon is _much _healthier on your heart and arteries than pork bacon!" Buffy ground out.

"Yeh?" William said, tossing the package of the pork bacon into the cart. "News flash for you: we may die sooner from battlin' Big Bads, but I'd rather go out enjoying myself than tryin' to be healthy!"

"Most men feel that way, but trust me: you do the vegan thing, and you'll add thirty to fifty years to your life." she pressed her point, putting back the eggs and selecting an egg substitute. For everything the Slayer put into the cart that indicated it was either "veggie" or "gluten-free", William loaded up on either beef or pork items.

"Listen, and listen good: the PTB took care of that when I changed. Your little trip back to the world o' the living changed you, too! Spotted that right off!" he whispered fiercely so that people in the store wouldn't hear.

"Can we talk about that later?" Buffy asked hotly. Spying a second cart, she grabbed it, proceeding to place her healthy food items in it. After about a half hour, they made their way to the checkout stand. William was still lecturing Buffy on the values of hamburgers as opposed to Boca burgers. The Premiere Slayer was still loading up her cart with vegan things when the former vampire pulled his cart up to the scanner.

"So, havin' a lovers' spat, are we?" the cashier asked. Both Slayer and Hunter gave him a look, but the man wasn't fazed as he started ringing up Buffy's items.

"I had one with my wife just yesterday," the man was saying conversationally.

"Look..." Buffy started to say. At the same time, William said, "Will you just ring up our bloody purchases, you ponce!"

The man did as he had been told. Buffy rolled her cart to the exit door, but before William left, he motioned him close. The Hunter sighed and leaned over, saying, "Yeh?"

"It's none of my business, but why don't you take your wife or girl some flowers, or something?" he pointed to some daisies wrapped in plastic. "You can get a big bouquet and surprise her with them tonight!"

William snorted and, pushing his cart through the swinging door, hightailed it to the car. Buffy was loading bags into the trunk. As she got into the driver's side a moment later and pulled out of the parking lot, they were unaware of the goings on a few blocks away.

The Library housed some of the largest collections of supernatural books known to a precious few. For over ten millennia, even before books were written, the knowledge had been kept away from the coming World of Men. The Keeper relished her job. It was she who guarded the precious secrets, she who served as the Gatekeeper for those who wished entry to this plane. Now, the latest being was demanding admittance. The Keeper was determined that she would grant it. Her eyes fell on her aides, who even now were meeting in the subterranean location beneath the stacks.

The Acolytes, teenagers who worked by day in the Library, were preparing to light the ceremonial candle. Two of them, very strong boys, were carrying a sarcophagus. It was inlaid with gold and teal symbols, older than Egyptian hieroglyphics; not anything known to humankind at all. There was no face indicating whom or what was inside, only writings which enveloped the casket.

The Keeper ran her hands lovingly along the inscriptions. She murmured the words, words which would rouse the Leaders of a New Age at the proper time.

But first, the Chosen Ones had to be dealt with. First, Elizabeth Anne Summers and William Worthington (nee Pratt) must be One with the Leader. Of course, the Keeper had wanted to kill the Slayer and the Hunter, but her new rulers wouldn't allow it. They wanted them for their purpose, and the Keeper knew it would be suicide to go against their wishes.

The Acolytes surrounded the sarcophagus now, chanting and writhing. They cut their wrists and let their blood spill on the sarcophagus. The Keeper cleared her mind and she saw the image of the Slayer and the Hunter as they drove along the Highway, Her dark eyes widened as she saw another.

The disguise of a man from Italy could not hide the shock of red hair, nor the eyes of blue, and certainly not his magic signature. She could hardly contain her excitement at having found not only the Slayer and the Hunter, but a Fae of the Highest Order of Power. With all three enveloped in her Leaders' magnificence, the prophecy that started with the Mouth of Hell in Maine would be fulfilled.

The Kween would rule the world.


	7. Chapter 7

AFFECTING PROBABILITY TWO, MENDING BROKEN FENCES: CHAPTER SEVEN

XXXXXXXXXXX

After glancing at Buffy and Spike on his television set, Trillion folded his arms behind his head and smiled. At least, they were working together, and the pair seemed content in each others' space. The longer they spent in each others' company, the more intense the unspoken feelings between them would grow. The fey thought about the children he and Cind were about to welcome into the world, and his grin grew wider.

_Life is certainly good, _the faerie thought as he magically turned off the set and let sleep claim him.

While he slumbered, Trillion dreamed about all the clients he had helped, both with and without their knowledge. The thought that he could do no wrong crept around the edges of his mind.

He dreamed about the wedding of Buffy to William, and as he beheld their smiling faces, the thought that all was perfect intruded. A little girl turned during the wedding reception toward him, her golden hair blowing in the gentle breeze.

The magic man had never seen her before. She had on a pink dress covered with flowers, and she wore black Mary Janes. Her hair was hanging down in ringlets. Her eyes were the bluest of the blue and were large and observant.

"You created the perfect environment for Buffy and William," she told him in his dream. "You should be glad."

"I am," Trillion responded.

"You are wonderful, fixing things like you have between them," she said.

Trillion blushed amidst her adoration. "Well," he said shyly, "it's not as though I really did anything. It was their love that brought them together again."

"You shouldn't be so modest," the girl said. "You should take credit for what you did. After all, if you hadn't gotten the ball rolling, they _never _would have noticed each other again."

Trillion thought about it, and said, "You're right. You're absolutely right."

"Grown ups are really dumb sometimes, aren't they?" she asked.

"Yeah, they are," the faerie muttered.

"And they need someone like you to show them the way, don't they?" the girl queried.

"Yes, they do," Trillion said. _The little girl makes a powerful argument,_ he mentally decided.

In fact, the more he thought about it, humans like Buffy and William couldn't get along without beings like him to show them where they constantly messed up. He ignored another voice which told him that something had changed, and not in a good way.

"You should guide them," the girl was saying. "You shouldn't play _their_ games, catering to _their_ need to be together. They should play _yours. _They should be grateful to you. They should be on their knees thanking you because you helped them._"_

Trillion's eyes snapped open. "Yes, they should."

He saw that the little girl in his dream was sitting right beside him, but he didn't consider asking her how she had gotten there.

"You deserve to help them with their problems, don't you, Trillionanaoscapie?" she asked. The fey didn't think to ask how she knew his true name. He didn't _wish_ to think.

_Excessive thoughts are stupid, _he decided.

The voice that alerted him that something had changed and was dangerous was starting to fade. Trillion was happy it was ebbing. It was such a silly voice. He knew better, didn't he? He was only trying to help them, to join the Chosen Ones as they should be joined, wasn't he?

"More than anything, I want to help them..." he said assertively. The male faerie could feel his eyes glazing over and his limbs growing heavier. He needed to do something, but for the life of him, he didn't know what.

That voice that had plagued him about the danger he and the world faced had stilled. He had no idea why he had even bothered to worry about that. Only humans worried; only grown ups were agitated. It was much better to just _be, _to let all the doubts and insecurities slip away. He was the most perfect faerie, after all. He would bend his subjects to his will.

"I can show you how you can help them..." the girl said, "especially Buffy and William."

Trillion said in a confused voice, "Helpthem? That word is foreign to me."

"Do you know any words?" she asked. Trillion nodded with the simple, broad nodding of a child.

"The words I'm not supposed to speak until the proper time." he responded without hesitation with his voice: the _real _voice he had denied for so long. It was the inner voice of a child, with the Power of the Ages. It was more powerful than the First Ones had been.

"What games will you play?"She asked him.

"The games that invoke the words," he said in a child like, yet grown up voice.

"And who will you play with?" she wondered.

"Everyone," Trillion answered, giggling.

The girl smiled a warm grin. "Take my hand. Become One with me," she instructed. "Be a true Chosen One."

As he reached out and grasped her fingers, he became aware of a cold sensation. He saw the child beside him became a mist, not solid anymore, yet still substance. She welcomed him with her darkness. They enveloped him in their blackness.

He saw her thoughts clearly in his mind, and he did not fear them. They were part of him, after all. He burned, yet he was not singed. He knew what he was. Who They were now. The girl had become _his, _just as he was now _hers...theirs._

His eyes became dark, like hers now were; his skin turned black, like the girl's. His wings fluttered not with their usual rapid speed, but they had slowed until each movement was calm, deliberate. Outwardly, to any Unchosen humans who looked but did not See, he wore the appearance of a normal human. His hair still looked red, and his eyes still looked blue.

"Now do we see what we should do? Now do we see the games we will play?" she asked him inside his mind and through his mouth.

"We see all. We are One," Trillion said in a reverberating voice.

"Who are we?" they asked.

"We are the Kween." Trillion-Kween flew to where their Keeper was.

The time had come for them to unlock the Door.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

The Keeper's dark eyes, once the grey of the human woman she had been inside, glittered with excitement. The rulers were here. She felt their presence. She would not go on the Voyage of the Kween, no, she would _not. _That was not her role in the scheme of things. But she _would_ welcome them and give her life in servitude to them so that they would know the First Hunter and the Premiere Slayer as it was ordained.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

The cell phone rang as Buffy pulled her rented Corolla into a gas station. She got out and after scanning her card, proceeded to fill the tank. Inside the car, William flipped the cell phone open.

"Hello?" he asked.

On the other end, in a province that was north of London, Rupert Giles drew back in shock. Spike had died, hadn't he? Angel had told him, and so had Buffy before they had parted company. Of course, the voice that sounded like Spike didn't mean anything. Buffy could have a boyfriend that just sounded like the deceased William the Bloody.

"Is this Buffy Summers' phone?" Giles asked. He checked his caller ID; it showed a number containing the area code 207. On the couch in his flat, Willow Rosenberg and an English Hunter named Bill were playing a game on a laptop.

"Willow, can you find out where area code 207 is?" Giles asked. "I'm not familiar with that one."

"Sure," the witch told him. "Did you find Buffy?"

"I don't know yet," Giles replied, turning away from the two friends.

Giles repeated his question, adding, "Who am I speaking to?"

William had a mock hurt expression on his face as he said, "You don't _recognize _me? I know it's been four years, give or take, but I know I'm a hard one to forget."

Now Giles had no doubt that Spike was with Buffy. So many questions sprang to mind. How did he come back from the dead? What was he doing with Buffy? Did he still have a soul or was he back to being the evil fiend he had been when Buffy had first met him?

"Watcher Boy?" William was asking. "You there?" Bill confirmed that the area code was a number in Maine. Giles somehow wasn't surprised. The information he wanted to give Buffy correlated with that location.

"Yes," Giles snapped. "And although I would love to ask why you're there, now is not the time for fact gathering. Put Buffy on the phone."

"You need to learn some manners, Rupes," William said dryly. Buffy slid into the driver's seat and upon spying the cell phone she grabbed it from the former vampire.

"Hey, Buffy!" William protested. "We aren't finished yet!"

"Is that Giles?" Buffy asked. William nodded, crossing his arms and turning away.

"Hey, Giles!" Buffy greeted. "Did you find out anything about the duplicated demons?"

Giles couldn't contain his anger any longer. "Buffy, I can't for one moment believe that you of all people could be so rash as to have _Spike _in close proximity," he scolded.

"Giles," Buffy returned, "almost twenty-nine here! I'm a grown up! I don't need a father figure telling me the 411 on Spike. And anyway, he isn't Spike any more. He goes by his human name William now."

"Like that would excuse all of the bloody atrocities he has committed," Giles almost snarled.

"Is he goin' on about the 'you committed all unholy manner of atrocities' speech again?" William asked. Buffy nodded, switching on the speaker.

"Rupes," the First Hunter said, "what does it take to bloody appease you? I died saving the world from the _First, _remember?"

"I recall that, but why didn't you _stay_ dead?" Giles bit back.

"I got sidetracked and brought back, an' l ended up in L.A. helping Peaches," William said. "Been a good boy, even without the chip, for awhile now."

"And, he's completely human," Buffy put in. She didn't tell Giles about William's super human senses. There was no point adding fuel to the fire, she decided.

"Human?" Giles asked, his anger switching to awe. "Do you mean to say, he _Shanshued?_"

"Yeh, put that in your tea an' drink it, Rupert," William said.

Giles replied, "The prophecies indicated that there would be male Slayers to help the female ones, but I never thought that youwould be one."

William smiled, loving the shock value of the revelation Giles had discovered. "Get used to it, mate," he told the Watcher. "Traded my demon heritage for a beating heart and superior senses to fight the Big Bads good an' proper."

"And you are both in Maine working together?" Giles asked.

"Yes," Buffy answered. "Giles, what about the demons?"

Giles removed his glasses and swung them in his hand like he usually did whenever he talked about something significant. "Sources indicate that the Hellmouth in your specific location has something to do with it; however, while it gives them the increased energy to withstand permanent death, the Hellmouth is not the _controlling_ entity which is making the demons replicate themselves."

"So there's something behind the Hellmouth that's making copies of them?" William asked, all business now.

"Correct," Giles confirmed. "We are still trying to discover what power is behind all this, but he, she, it or they are shielding themselves quite adroitly."

Willow's voice was heard saying, "I even tried to use a locator spell, but my magic isn't powerful enough to penetrate the cloak they're using."

As Buffy pulled in front of William's row house apartment, she and he exchanged a look. It seemed that they would have to find out who or what was causing everything.

At the same time Buffy was talking, William's cell phone went off. "Hello?" he asked into the receiver.

"There was an incident which occurred this morning that I think you need to see," Francesca's voice said.

"What?" William wanted to know.

"I can't be more specific over the phone," Francesca said, supplying the Hunter with an address. William took a pad out of the glove compartment and wrote it down.

"We'll check it out," he said, hanging up the phone.

He looked at Buffy, who was ending her call with Giles.

"Be careful," Giles advised in a worried voice.

Buffy sighed. She knew the closest thing she had to a father figure was concerned, and he had a right to be, but for whatever reason, she didn't care at the moment about Giles' hang ups concerning William. The Premiere Slayer knew she couldn't be in safer hands, and she knew he felt the same way about her.

"Giles, I've got nothing to worry about," she said. "We care about each other, and I've no doubt that when the head baddie shows itself, we'll stand toe-to-toe against it."

"Besides, it's really none o' your business who she partners with, now is it?" William added. Buffy glared at him.

"Could you excuse me for a minute?" she asked her former Watcher. Turning off the speaker phone, the Premiere Slayer fixed her partner with a cold stare.

"Could you be any more obnoxious?" she asked hotly.

"Just tryin' to relive old times," William said sarcastically.

"Well, _stop _trying and let me handle this," Buffy ordered.

Into her cell, she said, "Look, Giles, we're only solving this one case, and then I'll be on the first plane to Italy. It's no big."

Even as the words escaped her mouth, Buffy regretted them, and being parted from William. Although they'd only been together for a short time, she was already considering relocating to Maine to be closer to him.

The Hunter didn't know that, of course, and as Buffy turned away to talk to Giles, he felt a stabbing in his heart. He should have guessed she'd feel that way. He was naïve to think that anything had changed. He didn't expect moonlight and rock concerts with her, but he had hoped that she wanted to spend more time with him, and not just as a partner. He put on what he hoped was his poker face as she hung up.

"Sometimes I think Giles is too territorial," she said.

William looked out of the window lest she see his sadness. "No, he's jus' being cautious," he said as a single tear ran down his face.

The Hunter opened the door, saying, "Gotta get some weapons for me and whatnot. Frannie saw or heard of something in town that needs our handlin'."

Buffy got out and opened the trunk, saying, "Well, we might as well take these inside." She got out the grocery bags and went upstairs. Letting them both inside his flat, William grabbed enough stakes, knives and holy water to outfit an army. Once Buffy put everything away, she felt her pocket for William's lighter and grabbed two swords.

"Let's rock," she said, going back outside. He followed, forcing himself to not be depressed as they drove via his directions to the location Francesca had provided.


	8. Chapter 8

AFFECTING PROBABILITY TWO: MENDING BROKEN FENCES, CHAPTER EIGHT

**A/N: Here is another chapter. Sorry that it took so long to update this, but my muse had left me for a long time. Please read and review.**

XXXXXXXXX

Giles was pacing once he terminated the call with Buffy.

_This situation is passing intolerable! _Buffy's former Watcher's mind told him. He knew that on one level, Buffy was completely grown, and thus completely beyond his scope of influence. She had been without a Watcher for several years, and she had done admirably well in the face of many trials and tribulations.

He knew that when Buffy decided to "take a siesta" from her friends and from him that it had been the best thing at the time. But taking up with Spike was a different matter. Even if the vampire had become human and he had transferred to the other side, Spike could still be a dangerous individual where Buffy was concerned. He was too volatile, too unpredictable in his actions.

After all, hadn't he been that way when he had tried to sexually violate Giles' Slayer after telling her his feelings for her?

The former Watcher stopped pacing, but took off his glasses and swung them back and forth, as he considered what move to make next. He could hardly reprimand Buffy, and he certainly couldn't tell Spike to leave her alone. Excusing himself from Willow and Bill, Giles went into his bedroom and put his glasses back on his face.

"Why?" he asked the empty space, his voice full of anguish. "Why would she seek him out when she knows he's poison to her?"

"Maybe you need to protect her," a small male voice said. Giles looked at the mirror but didn't see anything reflected in it. He shook his head.

"She doesn't need protection," Giles said. "She's the Slayer."

"But all people need protection at some time in their lives," the voice said, growing louder and stronger. Giles now saw a male faerie, complete with wings, standing in front of him.

"Who are you?" the former Watcher inquired.

"Someone who holds your best interests at heart," the voice told him. "Someone who is your friend, and the Slayer's friend."

Giles frowned. He tried to resist the mental pull of the voice, but he could hear pleasing, melodic sounds inside of his head. They kept whispering, talking about how it was his duty to still look after his Slayer.

"But she is grown; she hasn't needed me for a long time," he protested.

"She does have power, and the ability to withstand many obstacles," the male child agreed. "But you can help her to stand up against the Big Bads."

Giles nodded, feeling his mind drifting but not wanting to stop the sensations he felt. His thoughts became muddled, less focused. He knew Buffy; he knew she would not have trusted Spike unless there was a good reason, no matter what Giles thought.

"No...this is not right," he whispered. "She can sort things out. She _will_."

"But Spike was never one that she could reason with, or understand," the voice said. Giles felt his mind flooding with all the offenses the former vampire had done against Buffy; all the times he had sought to kill her, or just plain annoy her.

"You don't want to see your Slayer dangling at the end of his hook of false words of friendship and love, of lies?" one child's voice, this one a girl's, was asking.

"Certainly not," Giles said. The child smiled.

"You still love her, don't you?" the male faerie's voice asked. "You still are the father she never had, aren't you?"

"Yes," Giles confirmed.

"And you still think protecting her is important, especially when there is an emergency?" the female child ask. Giles nodded. The former Watcher's eyes started glowing with the Knowledge both were feeding him.

"Do you know your Words now?" the girl asked. Giles laughed, the simple unvarnished child's laugh. He would teach Buffy a new game, one without Spike. That was the only thing that mattered to him.

"I know," he said in a voice not quite his own, but that of the child he used to be inside his mind. "I know the words."

Both the faerie and the female child held out their hands. Giles took them in his. They fit so perfectly. He felt the change Trillion had gone through enveloping him. He felt his mind slipping, but he didn't care. All that mattered were the Words; all that were necessary were the Games. He dialed a number on his phone with lightning speed.

When the receptionist answered, he said, "Hello, miss? I would like to order three plane tickets to Maine." As the woman provided the information, the former Watcher's eyes saw Willow and Bill come into the bedroom.

"Giles?" the redheaded witch asked. "Are you okay?"

"Fine," Giles said. "I've ordered us plane tickets to Maine. Buffy needs our help."

Bill the Hunter asked, "With what?" Willow regarded him.

"Maybe it has to do with the prophecy we read about," she said.

"Yes," Giles responded. He gave them a pointed look, saying, "She needs looking after."

"I'll get a bag and pack," Willow said, hurrying off.

"I'll...wait until you come back," Bill told both of his new friends.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Buffy pulled up in front of the house Francesca had spoken of. She and William emerged to find the police there. Both Slayer and Hunter's senses were going crazy.

"Something's wrong," Buffy told William.

"I'll say," he agreed. One of the cops, having spotted them, walked over to where they stood.

"Are you a relative of the deceased?" an older cop asked.

"We're friends of the family," William said. The policeman let both in, ordering them not to touch anything.

Buffy and the former vampire went inside the front door. The house was dark and had a foreboding presence. The supernatural currents tickled William's neck like so many hackles. At any other time, he might enjoy looking at a turn-of-the-century house, thinking back to when he had been human before becoming a vampire. Now, though, he felt almost claustrophobic in the long foyer.

Buffy was pointing to the staircase with its banister which curved slightly at its wider bottom. She started to take the stairs, saying to William, "I'll look upstairs; you check down here."

"Right, pet," William said with a gusto he really didn't feel. He tried to shrug off his growing fear. He had faced monsters and demons before; hell, he'd even _been _one, so why did the house have him so spooked?

The Hunter got out his bow and arrow. "Listen, you lot!" William yelled. "I _know _you're here! Might as well come out right now. 've got you covered!" He turned around suddenly at the sound of something scurrying by.

Icy cold tentacles grabbed him through the darkness that surrounded him. "Wanna get kinky, do we?" He tried teasing. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, when he moved closer to the fireplace in the living room, he felt his hackles rise again.

William took out a torch from his bag and shined it on the wall in front. There was still no movement. Although he felt some fear, he was also getting brassed.

"What's wrong?" He challenged. "Can't face me? Afraid me an' Buffy'll kill you?"

"You shouldn't use a strong Slayer to do your job for you..." a child's voice said from all around him. "You're not fit to clean her shoes." The darkness came closer, snuffing out his flashlight. Before he could threaten it or defeat it, the mist surrounded him.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Buffy took out William's lighter from her pocket and illuminated it. She saw that she was in the Master Bedroom. Everything seemed none the worse for wear. The King sized bed was neatly made without any signs of a struggle or disarray.

The Elder Slayer looked at the furniture and saw that there wasn't any sign of fingerprint dust or traces of luminal which tended to be common when the police were searching for clues.

_Forget much? _She thought. _Why didn't they come in here?_

"Not supposed to tell..." she heard a little girl's voice saying in her ear.

Buffy sensed an electric current running up and down her spine. It was different from the sensations she felt whenever a powerful demon or a vampire was near, or even when William was around. His signature remained the same: a bonga drum in the otherwise ho hum vibrating matter that other demons left.

"Who are you?" Buffy asked the girl.

"No one you should trifle with," the girl said with quiet authority. The Elder Slayer looked around but didn't see anyone.

"OK," Buffy rejoined, "this is getting real old, real fast. You know as well as I do what I'm capable of doing, so do I hand your ass to you in a sling, or do you come out so that we can talk like civilized"—she searched for the right word—"beings?"

No one stepped forward, but the little girl's voice said, "I don't think I _like _you! I don't wanna play your games!"

_Yeah, well, feeling's mutual, _the Premiere Slayer thought. Buffy wondered how William was doing, and if he'd also heard the really lame strains of a child's voice. Despite her opinion, the hackles on her neck started rising. Something told the Elder Chosen One that she should join the former vampire, and fast.

Meanwhile, downstairs, William struggled against the darkness. He'd never before been afraid of it, not even when he had been a little boy, but now it had an unfamiliar chill that encroached upon his deepest fears. Buffy seemed to be at the heart of them again. He forced himself to be calm despite his racing heartbeat. He knew instinctively that this creature, much like the First, liked to play mind games on its victims.

Knowing that, however, didn't make his escape any easier. William saw a shadow rising out of the mist and he aimed his bow and arrow at it. Buffy emerged before he fired. Breathing a sigh of relief, he saw the smoke dissipate and the room became just another dark space.

"Buffy..." he said, somewhat at a loss for words.

"Hey," she said, reaching out to touch his arm. He was glad she had, and even more happy that she was real.

"I heard..." he began.

"The sounds of a little girl?" Buffy queried. William shook his head.

"Li'l boy," he said. "But not a little boy. I felt the strongest mojo all 'round me. Couldn't get past it. It felt as bad as the First, but...different."

"Yeah," Buffy said. "Mine was a little girl. Something you should ask Francesca about, maybe?"

"On my to do list, pet," William told Buffy. "I searched down in the living room but didn't see anythin' out of the ordinary."

"Me, neither," Buffy said. Together, they went down into the basement. William shined his torch once again.

"I dunno," he said, "jus'...this all seems familiar and yet...".

"Unfamiliar at the same time?" Buffy asked. "Maybe Francesca knows something."

"Oh, yeh, right..." William said, sounding a little distracted. He pulled the cell phone from his pocket and dialed.

"Hello...?" Francesca's voice came over the phone. When she heard her male Slayer's voice, she greeted, "William! What is it?"

"We're inside the house, but everything looks normal," he reported.

"_Normal...?" _Francesca cried. "Are you sure you're at the address I provided? 422 Rissio Lane?"

William said, "Yep. Checked the address as soon as we pulled up here."

"You didn't see the bodies?" the female Watcher inquired. William spun around, looking for any signs that corpses were in the house.

"Bodies?" he said, then told her, "no, didn't find...".

"Spike!" Buffy cried just then forgetting to use his human name. He followed into another section of the basement.

The Hunter said into the mouthpiece, "jus' a minute, Fran". Walking over to the room where Buffy was, William made a grizzly discovery. Several bodies were visible in the washroom section of the basement. What made things worse was that they were the bodies of children.

"We found 'em," he said gravely, letting the phone drop to his side.


End file.
